Ryan Adams

If you’re curious what precipitated Clint’s diatribe on those unforgiving souls who did not enjoy Ryan Adams temperamental performance last night, let me just clear the air: it was me, ok?

Everything was going great. There was no opener, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals just came out on stage and opened with Bartering Lines. It was fantastic, even though I’m not really familiar with Heartbreaker, it was a great performance. Mockingbird: fantastic. I can’t remember whether he did Tears of Gold next or not, but it was ok… he was mostly just tuning his guitar during this one and it was a little boring. Then Cold Roses: amazing. The harmonies he did with his lead guitarist, bass player, and pedal steel player were amazing. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Then comes Peaceful Valley. I LOVE Peaceful Valley. “Can I still smoke cigarettes, and drink my coffee when I get to heaven with a bottle of wine. Cause all my life I’ve longed for forgiveness, but I can never seem to get enough.” And then, like it’s nobody’s business, they all just go into this jam session…..

Waiting…….

Waiting………

Waiting…………

I look around and NO ONE is digging it. As a matter of fact, all the whooping and hollering that had been going on stopped. After a painstakingly long time, the song finally ended. Pissed, I leaned over to Clint and said, “What a self-indulgent prick”.

End of good time watching Ryan Adams.

I understand that when you go to a concert, there is the idea that you’re going to see an artist perform and not some kind of talking jukebox. I get that. However, I think there’s some kind of delicate balance line between fans and artists. Like, it’s understood that you don’t throw full container’s worth of beer onto the guitar player’s pedal board because you’re not getting to hear the song you want to hear (ie. Ryan Adams at the Rhyman in Nashville last year). It is also true, that the songs we fall in love with are subject to a vibe’s interpretation. Goodnight Rose had a much more rock feel to it last night than it does on the record. There was some playful banter between the musicians that really livened it up. I dig that. What I don’t dig is paying $96 (for two tickets) to see a prolific artist who has written so many amazing songs with unbelievable lyrics, sit and waste my time jamming on a fucking guitar like he’s the only one in the room. If I really wanted to spend money watching some asshole wank on his guitar, I’d go see John Mayer.

Also- as always at a Ryan Adams concert- he flipped out about people yelling out song requests and ended the concert early. I get that that’s probably a pretty frustrating thing for an artist, especially one with so many great songs. You’ve got to make a judgment call for your setlist. I remember going to see Hem at Workplay and some asshole right up front kept requesting the same song during every lull until finally Sally Ellyson was like, “Um, security?”, but going to see a pregnant folk singer at Workplay begs for a different set of manners than seeing Ryan Adams at the Alabama Theater. So one of your fans connected to a song you wrote and wants to hear it. Grow some thicker skin and get the fuck over it. Don’t cheat the rest of the people who paid good money to hear you play because you can’t deal with some obnoxious guy in the crowd.

Ugh, ok. End of rant

Fabulous songs from the rest of the concert:

I See Monsters
Nightbirds
Rescue Blues
I Taught Myself How to Grow